Protesters burn a tyre at Kalpana Square on Sunday in protest against construction of a boundary wall in front of the state museum. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 22: People, including a large number of vendors, today put up a roadblock at Kalpana Square on the National Highway-203 for nearly an hour in protest against construction of a boundary wall in front of the state museum.

The protesters burnt tires and filled up the area, which was dug up for construction of the wall, with the excavated material. The agitators alleged that the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had asked a private builder to construct the boundary wall. They said the wall would create problems for the vendors, blocking the way for customers to approach them.

Sources in the corporation said there was a proposal to build a park under the city beautification programme on the stretch between Kalinga Ashok Hotel and the corporation office.

The civic body has already floated a tender of Rs 60 lakh for this purpose. The contractor, who has been assigned with the job, started the work last week.

The proposed stretch will have ornamental trees, lawn and pavements and it will be built in front of the state museum to attract visitors. The boundary wall will have a height of two feet with iron railings. But, a vendor alleged that the corporation had been trying to evict the place, which would result in loss of livelihood for the vendors.

“We have been doing business in the area for the past two decades. But, the corporation in nexus with the private builder wants to grab the land. Once the boundary wall is built people will not visit our shop. Though the corporation has verbally made a promise to allot us alternative land, they are yet to initiate any action,” said Dillip Kumar Chotray, a local vendor. Sources said there were nearly 10 shops in the area proposed for beautification work.

Similarly, the residents allege that the construction will create a traffic mess in the area. “Most of the time the area is being used as parking lot for visitors coming to the museum. Construction of a boundary wall will narrow the road. A number of accidents have taken place in the past and the construction will further raise chances of accident,” said Sreemantini Jena, a local resident. She also said the agitation would intensify if the authorities failed to address their grievances.

Following agitation the contractor was forced to close the work. The agitation came to an end with intervention of police. “Work began last week, but at that time no one opposed. Now, all of a sudden they disrupted the work,” said the contractor.

However, the corporation officials denied the allegations and said the stretch of land would be used for beautification programme. “We will have a discussion with the protesters on Monday and if necessary we will take police help to facilitate the construction,” said a senior official of the civic body.